Vascular anastomosis workshop improves general surgery residents' confidence and competency

Background: Performing vascular anastomoses is critical for many surgical procedures in hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery and solid organ transplant. These procedures are complex and require meticulous skills and exceptional knowledge to be conducted safely. However, most general surgery residents do not have sufficient exposure to vascular surgery during their training. Various studies have shown that vascular anastomosis simulation provides a safe and effective environment for resident skills development. In addition, studies have shown that both didactic lectures and simulation training combined improves learning and performance of vascular anastomosis, and thus, should be incorporated into the surgical curricula. Therefore, we aimed to design, implement, and assess the effects of a vascular surgery anastomosis workshop on fifth-year general surgery residents.